Tenant activity in Q4 2014 highest since 2011, and expected to increase - CBRE

Throughout 2014, 612,000 sqm of Warsaw office space was leased, with nearly a third (190,700 sqm) leased in Q4 alone, making it the second best (after Q1 2011) quarter in the history of the Warsaw office market. Still, despite a great Q4, the volume of space leased in the entire 2014 came in below that leased a year earlier, CBRE wrote in a report. “For the first time in years the total volume of office space leased in Warsaw was lower than in previous years, which was caused by low tenant activity in the crisis year of 2009. We expect tenant activity to increase in the coming months,” said Joanna Mroczek, head of Research and Marketing at CBRE. Vacancies also fell in Q4 compared to Q3 and stood at 13.3 percent at the end of 2014. It was the result of relatively low volume of new office space delivered in last year’s final quarter. This year should, however, bring further increase in vacant space due to the high volume of speculative space under construction. Vacancy levels in Warsaw should climb at least until mid-2016, the CBRE report said.